ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – China’s Sinopec is not interested in acquiring Shell’s refinery or petrochemical plant in Singapore, Sinopec president Yu Baocai said yesterday.
The remark, which the president did not give any details on, came after sources last week told a news agency that Sinopec was among the companies approached by Goldman Sachs to review Shell’s assets in Singapore.
The refining giant, however, is interested in participating in Saudi Arabia’s Jafurah shale gas project, Yu told an earnings briefing in Hong Kong after the state oil and gas firm reported a 20 per cent decline in interim results.
This is in line with an earlier report saying Sinopec and TotalEnergies were in separate discussions with state-run Saudi Aramco to invest in the Jafurah project, the largest shale gas development outside the United States (US), with reserves estimated at 5.7 trillion cubic metres of raw gas.
Yu also said Sinopec was one of the international companies invited by the Sri Lankan government to build a refinery there, and that the company was evaluating this matter. Sri Lanka shortlisted Sinopec and commodities trader Vitol to become a potential investor in a proposed export-oriented refinery in Hambantota.
Separately, Sinopec is set to start operating a retail fuel business in the island nation next month.
For future refinery investment, whether in the Middle East, Singapore or Sri Lanka, Sinopec will evaluate and compare the resources and markets in that target area to decide which one is more competitive, Yu added.
